Endeavors
by StudentofDust
Summary: Harry finds that his true love isn't who he thought it'd be... Part two: It's Been Awhile. DEAD STORY.
1. A Hogwarts Surprise

**A Hogwarts Surprise **

Harry watched as Voldemort's lifeless body slumped to the ground, his dying sneer still etched on his face. Then, it was as though someone had unpaused life- everyone who had gathered to watch that final battle rushed toward him, pounding his back, congratulating him.

Harry broke free from the crowd and started to walk back toward Hogwarts. Amidst the crowd, he could vaguely hear Professor McGonagall encouraging the students to proceed quietly back to the castle- though no one paid much attention to her.

Smiling to himself, for what seemed like the first time in ages, he started to simply walk around the castle. As he neared the front gates, he began to reminisce about all the fun times he had had at Hogwarts: saving Ginny from the basilisk (and destroying the first Horcrux), his many Quidditch matches, the Tri-Wizard Tournament... As he neared the castle, he heard an all-too familiar voice behind him.

"Hem, hem."

Harry turned, dreading who it was he thought had snuck up behind him- and sure enough, he found himself eye-to-eye with the one person he loathed more than anyone else.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," said Dolores Umbridge. "It seems as though Hogwarts is having quite the party in the castle."

"Yeah," replied Harry.

"Well, now. what's the matter?" asked Umbridge. "I thought you'd be happy, now that You-Know-Who is gone."

Harry looked up at the sky. "Voldemort's dead. Why do you still insist on calling him that?"

Umbridge looked shocked, as though, even though Voldemort was dead, she still couldn't believe anyone would dare say his name. She was soon snapped back to reality, though, by Harry's voice.

"I'm leaving now, Professor. Have a pleasant evening."

As Umbridge looked up, Harry was beginning to walk away. "What about your parents, Mr. Potter?" she called out.

Harry stopped and turned to face Umbridge once again. "What did you just say?" he said angrily.

"Well, I merely wondered if you considered what your parents must feel about you defeating V-V-Voldemort. I mean, he killed your parents, and now you've avenged them..."

Harry was about to say something but, turning around, he found that Umbridge had already left. He turned around to walk back to the rear of the castle.

Losing himself in thought once again, he was surprised to find himself back in the castle in what seemed to him to be mere seconds. He passed by the Gryffindor common room and began to make his way to the Great Hall, when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey, Potter!"

Harry turned around once more, this time finding himself facing Draco Malfoy.

"Listen, Draco, I'm not in the mood for-"

"You did awesome tonight, Potter."

Harry stood there, stunned. Before he could speak, Draco continued. "You don't know how badly I feel about agreeing to try and kill Dumbledore... Anyways, you did a great job tonight... you know, against Voldemort. See ya around... Harry."

Draco went down a flight of steps, as Harry turned back and went up the stairs that led to the Gryffindor common room. Bypassing a small group of second-years, he went up to his dorm. He sat down on his bed and, glancing over, saw a purple-and-yellow candy on his pillow. There was a note beside it.

"Fred wanted me to give this to you, Harry, before he... well, you know. He wanted you to use it on ol' Umbridge if you ever saw her again. Great job tonight. Mum says hello. Best wishes, George"

Harry smiled, then got up and went down to the common room, then exited and made his way to the Great Hall. All the way down, he found himself thinking about someone, though (and it pained him to admit it) it wasn't who he ought to have been thinking about.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Harry stepped into the Great Hall. He just stood in the doorway for awhile, staring at everyone- all his friends that he knew so well. There was Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, cracking jokes as usual. There was Ron and Hermione, who were secretly holding hands under the table; Harry silently wished them both the best of luck. There was Neville, and to his surprise, Ginny was beside him, holding his hand and congratulating him on killing Nagini. Just then, Ginny looked up and saw Harry; she turned bright red and started to head towards him, but Harry quickly shook his head, and Ginny went back to Neville's side. Harry's look said it all: "Don't worry, Ginny; I know you'll be much happier with Neville. And that's all I've ever wanted for you, is for you to be truly happy..."

Smiling once again, he turned and headed out of the castle, this time going toward Hagrid's cabin. His mind wandered again, and his thoughts turned again to her; this time, instead of trying to banish them from his mind, he savored them as he would an especially delicious treacle tart. Before he knew it, he was at the cabin. He knocked three times.

"Hagrid? You in there?

Hearing no response, he turned to go back to the castle. Just then, he had a sudden and unexplainable urge to go see the thestrals. So he continued on past the cabin, deep into the woods. He had gone only a few yards when a young thestral came up to meet him. Harry held out his hand and the thestral nuzzled it calmly; he continued to walk, the young one by his side.

Finally, Harry reached the thestral's nest, seeing the winged horses and smiling to himself. Just then, a movement caught his eye. He turned to the side- and there she was, the girl he just could not stop thinking about. He silently walked towards her, not wanting to disturb her. When he was about three feet behind her, he stopped, just looking at her. Just as a tear was beginning to slide down his cheek, she turned around.

"Hello, Luna."

Luna appeared startled at first, but then she smiled and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Hello, Harry," she said.

Harry crossed the remaining distance between himself and Luna. He reached out to pet the thestral, and Luna turned around. Her blush grew more pronounced as she simply stared at Harry.

"I don't think I could have done what you did tonight, Harry,"said Luna suddenly. Harry turned to face her.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Well... it took a lot of courage to do that, to kill someone. Especially since that someone was Voldemort." (Harry looked a bit shocked, as this was the first time he had ever heard Luna say Voldemort's name, but he soon smiled and turned away again.) "Me, I'm... a bit of a loner. I don't have nearly as much courage as you do. I don't even have the guts to tell someone that... well, I love them."

Harry faced Luna. "What exactly do you feel about this person?"

Luna turned an even brighter shade of red. "Well, he's been my best friend for the past two years. I've liked him since I met him, and... well, things just went from there..."

Harry took a step to the side and put his arm around Luna's waist. He had a fleeting thought that she would pull away from him, but instead she did the same to him. Harry then looked at Luna and said the words he'd been waiting to say to her for so long.

"Luna... I love you."

Luna spun around and faced him. "Please, Harry, tell me you're not just joking!" In response, Harry wrapped both his arms around her, pulled her closer to him, and kissed her. Luna returned the kiss, and they stood there for what seemed like an eternity before they finally broke apart.

"No," said Harry, "I was completely serious when I said that."

Luna turned her brightest shade of red yet. "Would you like to go up to the feast? I hope they have pudding."

Harry laughed and started to walk up to the castle, when Luna said, "Wait. I need to do something first." Harry turned around and watched as Luna pulled a picture out of her robe. She then set up an altar of stones, placing the picture on top. Then, taking out her wand, she muttered a spell, and the rocks and picture glowed a bright yellow, before returning to their normal colors. Putting her wand away, she turned and walked toward Harry; taking his hand, they began to walk toward the castle.

As they reached the castle, Harry had a thought. He turned to Luna and said, "So, Luna. Just who was that guy you said you were in love with?"

Luna turned and faced Harry. "You couldn't tell? It was you, silly!"

This time, it was Harry's turn to blush. He took her hand again, and they went into the Great Hall. They happened to pick the entrance, though, that everyone was staring at, and when they all saw Harry and Luna together, a collective gasp rang through the Great Hall. Suddenly, a shout rang out.

"You go, Harry!!!"

Turning, Harrry saw Ron on his feet, clapping. Soon, Hermione joined him, then Neville (though he looked a bit put out), then Cho, and pretty soon, the entire Great Hall was cheering for them.

Harry turned to Luna and said, "Shall we?" Luna replied, "Yes," and the pair embraced, then kissed once again. The tumult in the Great Hall grew louder and louder.

It was then that Harry remembered something that Sirius had once told him: "Don't you worry, Harry. Someday, everything will turn out just right." As they broke apart, Harry turned to face the crowd.

"You know," he said, " a friend who was very dear to me once said that everything would work out in the end." He took Luna's hand. "And I'd say it has."

The Great Hall erupted in cheers once more, and Harry and Luna walked toward an available table, both thinking that as long as they had each other, everything would truly turn out all right.


	2. It's Been Awhile

**It's Been Awhile…**

**(Note: this fanfic picks up where "A Surprise at Hogwarts" left off.)**

As Harry and Luna made their way towards the table where Ron and Hermione were sitting at, Harry suddenly felt something wet hit him on the top of his head, then begin to dribble down his robes. At first, he thought that someone was trying to Disillusion him again, but when he turned around, he found that Neville was standing up, holding a cup… as if he had just thrown its contents at Harry…

"Neville, mate, what's wrong" asked Harry.

Neville's face grew red. "What's wrong? Did you really just ask me that? What's wrong is that you're prancing around here with Luna, kissing her like she's the greatest thing that's ever happened to you-"

"Well, she is, " Harry interjected, and Luna blushed.

Neville kept going, as if he hadn't heard him. "And you didn't even take _my_ feelings into account when you did all this did you?"

Harry's mouth dropped a bit. "Neville, mate, I honestly don't know what you're talking about. What feelings do you mean?"

Neville's face grew redder. "You mean you honestly didn't know? It's been a quite obvious, you know. Or did you have your head too far in the clouds to notice?" A tear began to make its way down Neville's cheek as he continued. "Harry, I know you knew what you were doing. You knew I was in love with Luna, too, but you went ahead and took her from me!!! Now who do I have?"

Harry's mouth dropped the rest of the way open. "Neville… honestly, I didn't have any idea you liked her… I would have given you a chance before I went for her, had I known that you felt that way…"

The rest of Harry's words were lost in what happened next: Ginny walked up to Neville and, turning him to face her, kissed him full on the mouth. Neville's eyes widened, then he closed them and kissed her back. It reminded Harry so much of his kiss with Ginny, back at the Burrow, that he had to turn away.

Ginny finally broke away from Neville after a minute and said, "You know that's not true, Neville- you've still got me." She looked sideways at Harry when she said that and blushed; Harry grinned and nodded once, which caused her to blush even harder.

Neville seemed to finally notice that the entire Great Hall was staring at him. Blushing furiously, he sat down at the table and attacked a chicken leg. Harry then turned to Luna. "Shall we sit?" he asked.

Luna said, "Yes, I'd like that," and sat down. Harry sat beside her and took her hand. Luna blushed, then leaned over and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. They aat there like that, motionless, until they heard a familiar voice behind them.

"Harry, Luna! You guys are at the wrong table!!"

Harry turned his head to find Ron and Hermione at the table behind them. Harry grinned. "You're right, we are at the wrong table. Come on, Luna, let's head over there." Harry took Luna's hand as her head lifted from his shoulder. Her face still had that dream-like quality that he had come to (unknowingly, to him) love the three years he had known him, but it also had something about it, a contented look, a completely satisfied look, that he had never seen in her face before. Smiling, he led Luna towards the table and sat across from Ron and Hermione. Luna sat down beside him, continuing to hold tightly to his hand.

Ron grinned. "So, mate, how's about you head over to the Burrow after we get all our stuff packed? I've already invited Hermione" (Hermione, for some reason, blushed when Ron said this) "and I'm sure that Mum wouldn't mind if Luna came along. That way, you two could spend some quality time together, if you get my meaning."

Luna blushed and Harry reached across the table and punched Ron on the arm. "Come on now, Ron, there's gonna be nothing like that going on." He turned to Luna. "Although… going to the Burrow might not be such a bad idea after all, Luna. It's on a big farm, so we could have plenty of room to just walk around… and I even think I saw some extra-large Gurdyroots growing near the river."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other when Harry said that and started to laugh, but cut off quickly as they saw the look that Harry gave them. "Oh, I'd love to!" said Luna. "But I don't know if my dad would say it's okay."

Just then, a deep voice sounded behind them. "Luna! You're alright!!"

Harry and Luna turned around, but Luna recognized who it was before Harry had even had a chance to turn all the way around. "Daddy!!" Luna cried, as she vaulted from her seat and ran into her father's open arms.

Xenophilius wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, I was so worried about you!!! I'm glad you 're alright!!!" He then looked beyond Luna and saw Harry standing by the table, grinning. He let go of Luna, then walked towards Harry.

"Mr. Potter- erm, Harry… I'm glad to see that you're fine, as well. I heard that it was you who had defeated Voldemort."

Harry grinned. "If you're willing to count a technicality as a win, then yes, you could say I won." Looking at his perplexed expression, Harry continued: "You see, it was his own Killing Curse that killed him; it merely rebounded off my Disarming Spell."

Xenophilius stood there, amazed, then grinned and whispered to Harry, "Does this mean you've forgiven me for lying about Luna?" Harry's smile faded off his face, for he had forgotten all about that.

"Yes, I suppose I can find it in me to forgive you, but only on one condition."

"Name it!" said Xenophilius.

Harry grinned again. "You'll have to ask Luna."

Xenophilius turned to Luna. "Did you have something you wanted to ask me, dear?"

Luna smiled. "Well, dad, Ron Weasley has invited myself and Harry to go over to the Burrow for awhile. It's not too far from our own house, you know."

Xenophilius looked surprised. "We have neighbors, and we don't even know about them?" At this, Ron sniggered, but managed to pass it off as a sneeze. It didn't fool Harry, though, who smiled knowingly at Ron.

He thought for a second, then a grin split his face. "Well, seeing as you and Harry are quite the item, and you will be under supervision… and if anything happens to you, I daresay Harry would have more than adequate means of protecting you… I don't see anything wrong with it. Okay, you can go."

Luna squealed with delight. "Oh, thank you so much, daddy!!" She wrapped her arms around him once more, and he laughed a deep, hearty laugh. "Well now, I must be going. _The Quibbler_ isn't going to write itself, you know?" At this, Harry, Luna, Ron, and Hermione all laughed.

Just then, they heard a small voice from behind Xenophilius. "Uh, excuse me, Harry…" Harry moved to get a better view, and he saw Dennis Creevey, who was holding his late brother's camera. "I-I was just wondering if… maybe…I could get a picture of you and Luna, if she wants to get in…"

Harry grinned. "Of course, Dennis," and Luna agreed also. He raised the camera, and Harry counted:"One, two-" He didn't get to three, though, because Luna turned him towards her and kissed him. Dennis' camera went off, and he looked a bit shocked. Luna pulled away and laughed, and Harry joined in. "That'll give him something to remember us by!!"

They sat down, and began to eat again.

Later that night, Harry and Luna followed Ron and Hermine out to the Hogwarts Express. "I'm surprised the train is still running tonight," remarked Harry.

Ron looked at him. "Why is that, mate? They have to get home somehow…" Harry chuckled. "True…"

As they entered the train, they tried to find an open compartment, but they all seemed to be filled. They passed one that held Draco and Goyle; when Draco looked up and saw Harry, his left hand lifted up in a very rude gesture towards Harry, but Harry simply laughed it off and kept on walking.

They got to the second-to-last cabin, and they saw Neville and Ginny already there. "Hey, Ginny; hey, Neville," Harry said. Ginny waved at them, but Neville walked over to the door and shut it before they could say anything else. Confused, they walked on, but not before they heard Ginny say to Neville, "What's the matter with you?"

They made their way to the last compartment, where they found it occupied by only one person. He seemed to be asleep, so they made their way in quietly. Settling down, they saw a box filled with what seemed to be candies of some sort. Just then, he woke up and looked at them. "Harry… it's nice to see you." Harry smiled. "Hello to you, too, George."

George looked around. "Hey, Hermione, Luna…." He paused when he came to Ron. "Ron… I didn't see you at the feast. I was wondering about you." Ron said, "Yeah? Well, I'm okay."

George replied, "That's good…" Just then, he burst into tears. Ron rushed over to him and put his arm around him. "I-it's just h-h-hard knowing he's d-dead… and I'll n-never see him again…."

Ron said, "That's not true, George. You'll definitely see him someday. Then you'll be with him forever." George smiled. "That was _the_ sappiest thing I have ever heard from you, Ron… thanks."

Harry turned to Luna. "Well, we know he can't be too bad off; he hasn't lost his talent for sarcasm." "I heard that," Harry heard George say, and Harry and Luna laughed.

After that, it seemed to be mere minutes before they were pulling into Platform 9 and ¾. Since they were in the back, it took them a good fifteen minutes to actually get off the train. The first person they saw was Mrs. Weasley, and Ron and George both ran up to her and hugged her tightly; she hugged them back and said, "Thank God you two are alright!!" She noticed Harry, then smiled brightly. "Harry, dear, you're alright!!"

"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "I'm about as alright as I can be…"

Mrs. Weasley then turned around and saw Hermione and Luna. "Hello Hermione; hello…" She stopped suddenly. "Now who is this? I don't think we've ever met before."

Luna stepped up. "Hello, you must be Mrs. Weasley." After seeing her nod, Luna continued. "My name is Luna Lovegood. "

Mrs. Weasley stared at her for a second. "Lovegood…. I've heard that name somewhere before… but I can't place it… How do you know who I am, though?"

"Oh, I've heard so much about you from Harry," Luna replied. Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry in surprise and Harry said, "Mrs. Weasley… Luna's my girlfriend."

Mrs. Weasley brightened immediately. "Oh, well, then, that's perfectly alright. Come now, kids, Harry; let's get our stuff loaded up." Ron walked toward Mrs. Weasely. "Mum… if it isn't too much trouble… could we take Luna home with us? She lives just around the hill from us, and she and Harry wanted to spend some time together…"

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "But of course. Come, Luna, let's get your stuff in the car, also." As Luna walked toward the car, Mre. Weasley held Harry back. "Now, what about you and Ginny? She seemed all excited about going out with you.."

Harry smiled. "I think Ginny's found someone she can be much happier with than me." He gestured over to his left, and Mrs. Weasley glanced over to find Ginny sobbing into Neville's sweatshirt, Neville holding her tightly and, Harry noticed, shedding a few tears of his own. Mrs. Weasley walked over to them, and Harry went to go help Luna put her stuff in the car.

He found Luna standing alone behind the car, thinking. He walked up to her and put her arm around her. She did the same to him, then she asked, "Why'd you choose me?" Harry looked at her, surprised. "I'm not sure I get what you're asking, Luna."

Luna faced him. "Well… you already had something great with Ginny…at least I thought you did. So why'd you choose to love me instead of her?"

Harry thought for a bit, then said, "Probably because we have too much in common to not have at least something between us. We've been through too much… it may not be all good things we have in common, but I think we can love each other more that way."

Luna beamed. "You're absolutely right, Harry." They kissed one last time, then got into the car.

They held hands the whole way back to the Burrow. When they got out, Mrs. Weasley went into the house to make some hot chocolate. Luna turned to Harry. "You know, it's been awhile… since I've felt this good. The last time I can remember being this truly happy… was when my mom was alive, and I used to watch her experiment with her potions or spells…" Luna's voice trailed off. "Do you remember… back at Hogwarts… when we were in the forest?"

Harry remembered. "Yeah, you cast some kind of spell on that picture. What was that all about?"

Luna smiled. "Well… that was the last picture of my mum that I've got. The spell was one that she had invented herself. It completely preserves whatever it's cast on… for the entire lifetime of the person who cast it. Once they die, the spell wears off, and the object is subject to normal wear." She paused. "It was the only way I could truly make sure I'd always remember my mum… at least for as long as I live. Someday, I'll be with her- wherever she is. Then, I won't have to worry about forgetting her… 'cause I'll always be with her…"

Harry took Luna's hand. "Just from what I've heard you say about your mum… I don't think there's any way you could forget her." Luna smiled, then started to walk towards the house. As they walked in, George was trying to get a fire started. Smiling, Harry pulled out his wand and muttered, "_Incendio_." A fire roared up, and George jumped back in surprise. Harry and Luna laughed, then they went into the kitchen for some hot cocoa.

The next day, Luna woke up and rolled over to kiss Harry good morning, but she found that he wasn't in the bed. Confused, she looked out the window, then smiled: Harry, Ron, Ginny, and George were playing a game of two-on-two Quidditch. She started to do a commentary to herself as she watched.

"Harry's got the Quaffle, he throws it towards Ginny… oh, she blocks it, throws it to George. George races down the field, throws the ball towards Ron- but Ron saves it. He passes it to Harry, who takes off, tosses it at the goal, and- it's in!!! Harry scores against Ginny, and it's 20-10, Harry's team in the lead."

Just then, Luna heard a voice behind her. "What're you doing, Luna?" Luna turned around and found Hermione standing by the door. "Oh, just doing my own commentary on Harry's Quidditch match…"

Hermione laughed. "That's right, you did comment on that one match back in sixth year- well, our sixth year, your fifth year…" She paused. "Can I ask you something?" Luna looked up. "Sure, anything."

Hermione smiled a bit. "Well… I just wanted to ask you… what made you realize that you liked Harry?"

Luna grinned. "Well, I'd say it was at that giant battle we had at the ministry. I got to see some of when Harry was… being possessed by Voldemort, and how he resisted it so admirably… I mean, I'd always thought he was cute, from the first moment I saw him at the Quidditch World Cup, but it was then… that I really fell in love with him."

Hermione smiled. "I think you and Harry are perfect for each other… Did you know that there was a time when I really liked Harry, too?"

Luna looked up surprised, then laughed. "It seems like there are a lot of people who have liked Harry sometime in their life… What made you stop?"

Hermione blushed. "Well, I haven't exactly stopped… but I see how much you two have together… and I'm able to justify loving Ron. I mean, I'd love him no matter what, we've been best friends for so long… but I didn't always like him. It was during Yule Ball, when I was dancing with Viktor… I just couldn't take my eyes off Ron."

Luna smiled. "Yes, I know, the Yule Ball does tend to make romantic feelings come alive, shall we say."

Just then, Harry appeared behind Hermione. "Hey, Luna," he said, "we need someone to do a quick commentary on our match. We were wondering if you wanted to do it." Luna and Hermione looked at each other, then both began to laugh hysterically. Harry looked confused, then shook his head and walked away, saying, "See you out in the field, Luna."

Luna walked out to the field, and stopped suddenly. "Wow… it's beautiful." Suddenly, she heard "Yeah, I know, isn't it?" from behind her. She turned around to find that Ron had flown behind her. "I always have liked living here." Luna smiled. "I can really see why."

Just then, they heard a voice from a distance: "Alright, you kids, breakfast is ready." Harry smiled at the sound of Mr. Weasley's voice, and said to Luna, "You want a ride back?" Luna smiled, then got on Harry's broomstick, behind Harry; she held onto his waist the entire way back, smiling.

Seated around the table, Harry looked at Luna, smiled, then stood up. "I'm going to be leaving in a couple of days. I want to take Luna to Godric's Hollow." Everyone gasped, but Luna simply smiled. "I've always wanted to see the place where you were born, Harry," Luna said.

Harry grinned. "So, we'll be leaving tomorrow, and we probably won't be back for a while. I want to show Luna around a bit." They all wished them the best of luck, then Harry and Luna went off to pack.

Morning rolled around, and Mrs. Weasley came into the kitchen to make breakfast; when she did, she found a note saying: "Mrs. Weasley, We decided to leave early, before breakfast; hope you don't mind. Don't worry about us getting there, we're Apparating. Hope all is well there. Love from, Harry and Luna." Mrs. Weasley smiled, then went about making breakfast.

**(Two Months Later)**

Hermione woke up first that morning, and went down to wake Harry up. She entered his room, then thought, "Why do I always forget that he's not here?" She went on towards the kitchen, to find everyone in a rush. "What's all the commotion for? And why didn't it wake me up?"

Ron laughed. "Come now, Hermione. We got a letter from Harry early this morning; they'll be here any minute now!!"

Hermione's jaw dropped, then she slugged Ron on the arm. "Why didn't you come wake me up when you got the owl? I would have helped with getting everything ready…"

Ron sniggered. "Looks like someone's a little too happy to see Harry come back."

Hermione glowered at him. "Oh, come off it." Just then, they heard a shout. "He's here!!! He's back!!!"

They all ran into the living room, where Harry and Luna had just opened the front door and were about to step in. Hermione rushed towards Harry, and launched herself at him in a giant bear hug that almost knocked him on the ground. "Glad to see you too, Hermione, " said Harry, rubbing his ribs. Luna merely laughed.

"Breakfast is ready!" came the cry from the kitchen, and they all went in for, to them, an excellent breakfast.

After breakfast, Hermione turned to Harry. "So, tell us about it. How did your trip go?"

Harry grinned. "Well, it was quite the adventure, considering I apparated about six miles from where we were supposed to be…" Everyone got a good laugh at that one. "Then, once we actually got there, you'd never guess who we found there."

Ron said, "Probably not, and we'll never know if you don't tell us!!"

Harry laughed. "Okay, Ron, calm down. We actually found Draco there."

Ron's jaw dropped. "Draco?! What in the name of Merlin's pants was _he_ doing there?"

Luna said, "I guess we'll never know, 'cause he ran off as soon as he saw that we were there, too."

"So, apart from that, " Ginny piped up, "how was it?"

This time, Luna answered first. "I had an excellent time, finally getting to see where Harry lived when he was a baby. We saw his parents' grave, too."

"Yeah, and I don't think it's going to be getting any older now," Harry said, winking at Luna as he said it. Luna merely smiled, then began to eat her eggs. Harry turned to Hermione and was about to ask her something, when he noticed something very odd about her. "Erm, Hermione… what's with that ring you have there?"

Hermione looked down, then smiled. "Oh, do you like it? Ron got it for me. Spent a good bit of Galleons on it, too."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Is… is that… an engagement ring?"

Hermione laughed. "I was wondering when you'd get around to asking me that. As a matter of fact, yes, it is."

Harry grinned. "Well, congratulations to the two of you, although I wish you'd have sent an owl to us telling us the good news…"

Hermione looked at Ron. "That's _exactly_ what I said, but no… Ron wanted to keep it a secret til you got back;"

After their breakfast, Harry and Luna went outside to go for a walk. They eventually made their way down to the river, where Harry sat down on a particularly oversized rock; Luna sat down beside him. "You know, Harry," said Luna, "I really do think we were made for each other."

Harry grinned. "You know, Luna, I've been thinking the exact same thing." Harry leaned in and kissed Luna; they sat there for awhile, just basking in the perfection of the moment. When they finally broke apart, Harry said, "Luna, I've got something to give you."

Luna's eyes widened.. "What is it?"

Harry began, "Well, you know when you said you thought we were perfect for each other? Well, I want to know if you really do think that." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden ring, covered in sapphires. Luna gasped.

"Luna," said Harry, "it would be the greatest day of my life if you'd agree to spend our lives together." Then, he said the words he knew he had to say: "Will you marry me?"

Luna simply sat there, stunned. Then, a smile crept across her face, and leaning over, kissed Harry, more passionately than she had ever kissed him before. When they broke away, Luna simply said, "Yes."

Harry grinned, then gave the ring to Luna. Slipping it on, she asked him, "When did you get this?" Harry said, "One day, when I was out shopping. I came across it, and I thought you'd love it." Luna smiled, her smile brighter than ever before. Just then, something caught her eye. She looked at Harry, who had seen it also, and smiled.

When they returned to the house, Ron was waiting for them. "So, you two lovebirds, how'd your walk go?" Harry smiled, then said, "Show him, Luna."

"Show me what?" Ron asked. Luna lifted up her left hand, and Ron jumped backwards at least ten feet. "Merlin's beard, Harry, does that mean…"

"Yup," Harry said. "Luna and I are officially engaged."

Ron let out a whoop. "Oh man, wait til Hermione sees this."

Ron led them into the kitchen, where Hermione was sitting at the table, reading. "Hey, Hermione, look at this," said Ron. Hermione looked up at Luna, who was showing Hermione her new ring. Hermione jumped up and shrieked. "Oh my God, Harry, that's awesome!!! You two are going to be great for each other!!" She looked at Harry, then noticed him carrying something. "But what in the world is that?" she asked.

Harry replied, grinning, "Why, they're extra-large Gurdyroots, of course. I told you I saw them growing down here."

**THE END (for now)**


End file.
